Scotiabank Addresses Climate Change by Establishing an Internal Carbon Price

As part of our commitment to the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, we implemented an internal carbon price in 2018. After consultations with external experts and a thorough peer review, we established an internal tax of CAD$15 per tonne of CO2 for our global Scope 1 and 2 emissions. This allowed us to fairly compare projects that required higher upfront costs (but delivered longer-term energy savings), with those that were more cost-effective but short-term solutions.

In year one of implementation, this enabled HVAC replacements in Canadian branches, and the kick off of a pilot solar panel project in the Caribbean.

HVAC Upgrades

Through a retrofit initiative, 80 branches in Canada were upgraded in 2018, resulting in an estimated savings of 555,629 kWh, or 413 tCO2 e. A total of 156 branches have been upgraded since the initiative started and 147 branches are due to be upgraded by the end of 2019. We plan to further the HVAC retrofit project across our international branch network in FY2019 and beyond.

Solar panels

In 2018 we kicked off a solar panel initiative in Jamaica. Not only will this take advantage of the sunny region, but it will also reduce pollution as the energy supply in Jamaica is heavily reliant on fossil fuels. We plan to extend this initiative in FY2019 to our operations in the other Caribbean countries.

Learn more about how Scotiabank is working to address climate change in their 2018 Sustainable Business Report.